


Tesla's Dream - Fic

by xenoglossy



Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend, Historical RPF
Genre: Crossdressing, Deliberate Badfic, Interspecies Romance, M/M, Magical Girls, Mecha, Thomas Edison is a dick, War of Currents, avianromantic Tesla is so important, it is a mystery, not actually a death ray, where in the timeline of Tesla's life/Hatoful Boyfriend continuity does this take place?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 03:42:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2333990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenoglossy/pseuds/xenoglossy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tesla has a strange, yet beautiful, dream of pigeons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tesla's Dream - Fic

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tesla's Dream](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2316548) by Anonymous. 



Last night I had the most curious dream, which I will now attempt to record in as much detail as possible. I would hate to forget any of it; it was so vivid and so unusual that it seems as though it must be of some sort of yet-unknown importance.

I found myself in the middle of an unfamiliar road, lined on both sides by deserted, crumbling buildings. There was not a soul to be seen. I stood there for a moment, trying to get my bearings, when suddenly I heard a thundering in the distance and the ground began to shake. 

Sensing that, whatever the cause of this phenomenon, danger was in store, I looked around to see which of the nearby buildings might still be sturdy enough to provide me shelter, but my efforts were futile. Before I could flee, I found myself confronted by a giant bipedal machine. The roughly humanoid metal contraption towered over the dilapidated skyscrapers surrounding it, and as it trampled along the road, it sent chunks of asphalt and gravel flying through the air. Though I shielded myself as best I could, I felt the debris sting my face. With one more step, the machine could crush me like an ant; running was useless, as with its long stride it could easily catch up with me. Defenseless, I steeled myself for the impact, but it did not come. I looked up to find the machine had stopped just short of me.

"Nikola Tesla!" boomed a distorted voice, presumably issuing from the machine. "Prepare to meet your end!"

Suddenly I heard a fluttering of wings, and out of nowhere a pigeon interposed between the machine and myself. The pigeon was a lovely bird, much larger than most I've seen, and I couldn't help admiring the fine, neatly groomed plumage and bright eyes (although now was perhaps not the time for such things). Oddly enough, the pigeon was also clad in a small ruffled dress with a matching hair-bow (or rather head-bow). Even more oddly, it then began to speak.

"A single flower blooming in the asphalt road!" the pigeon shouted. "Coore Grey!" Then there was a pause.

"Go on, Textoris Melodia Funeris," said a second voice, from behind me. "You know what you must do!"

"Are you sure it will work with just me?" asked the bird.

"Though the Pretty Coores are strongest when united, the power that sleeps within you alone is not to be underestimated!" said the voice. "Besides, what choice have we? The forces of darkness have caught us too far from home for our compatriots to hasten to our aid."

"All right," said the bird, then cried "Pretty Coore! Open My Hato!"

A beam of white light issued forth from the gem at the pigeon's neck, striking the machine in one of its "legs" with a sizzling sound. There was a smell of melting metal and burnt plastic.

"Very well, I'll accept my temporary defeat!" said the distorted voice from the machine. "But you haven't seen the last of me!"

The machine then turned and limped away, leaving me standing in the road along with the two birds. The second, I now saw, was a Luzon Bleeding Heart—far more exotic than the humble rock dove I had first seen, but somehow less arresting, and not only because he was not wearing a dress.

"Are you okay?" said the rock dove. "That was a close one." I realized, now that my attention was not otherwise occupied, that despite the clothing, this pigeon was male. I had never before found myself admiring a male pigeon in the way I had admired this one earlier, but now didn't seem like the time to contemplate this fact.

"You are most fortunate that Textoris Melodia Funeris and myself happened to be passing through at precisely the right moment," said the Luzon Bleeding Heart. "There is neither aid nor aegis to be found in these forsaken ruins."

"I'm fine," I said, though my face still stung. I touched my fingertips to my forehead and found it damp with blood. "Well, more or less."

"You should get those cuts cleaned up, at least," the rock dove said. "Maybe you could come back to the school with me and see Dr. Iwamine."

"The Sorcerer Wallenstein?" said the Luzon Bleeding Heart. "Are you mad?"

"I know you don't like him, Anghel, but I think it'll be okay. Anyway, we'll be there to keep an eye on him, right?"

I had many questions for the birds—Anghel and Ryouta, as it turned out they were called—and as we walked together to their school they informed me of the workings of this strange future world, a world in which pigeons had become the dominant species. (Dare I hope?)

Indeed, it was not until we reached said school that I saw another human being. She was a girl of perhaps fifteen or sixteen, sitting in the courtyard with three fantails, and when the three of us arrived, she looked up in surprise.

"Who's this?" the girl said. She grinned and dropped her voice to a conspiratorial, yet clearly audible, whisper. "Ryouta! Have you captivated a mysterious older man?"

"No!" Ryouta said quickly. "It's not like that at all!"

"Too bad, he's pretty handsome."

At this, one of the fantails huffed out a breath, feathers ruffled, and opened his beak as if to raise an objection.

"Relax, lovebird," the girl said, with a touch of exasperation. "I'm not planning on running off with the dashing stranger here. But a girl's still got eyes, you know?"

"Anghel and I were passing through the old city on our way back from the manga event and we saw him about to get crushed by a giant mecha, so we helped him out," Ryouta explained. "And since he was hurt, I didn't want to just leave him by himself, so we brought him back here."

The conspiratorial grin returned. "Ah, a rescue romance!"

"I told you, Hiyoko, it's not like that! Why do you keep going on about this, anyway?"

"Well, since I've become a secondary female character in a slash fanfic, it's now my job. It's a bit of a step down from being the heroine, I have to say, but you're my best friend, so I'm happy to help."

I had begun to lose the thread of this conversation, but thought it best to intervene, even so. "I assure you, I have no such designs on your friend here. My devotion to science leaves little room for… personal attachments."

Hiyoko grimaced. "Oh, you're one of _those_."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry, I just haven't had a great track record with scientists lately. But as long as you don't want to put my head in a jar or steal my friends' blood or turn anybirdie into a walking bio-weapon, we're probably okay."

"I would never do anything like that!" I said (feeling, I must admit, a bit affronted). "I'm not a _biologist_."

"Oh, good," she said. "Hey, speaking of mad scientists, I guess we'd better get you to the nurse's office."

Escorted by Ryouta and Hiyoko, I soon arrived at the said location. It was a small infirmary presided over by a Chukar partridge in a lab coat, presumably the Dr. Iwamine whom Ryouta had spoken of.

"Here, Doctor, we brought you a patient!" said Hiyoko. "But don't try anything funny, okay? He's a mad scientist, just like you."

"Ho ho ho. Is that so?" The partridge regarded me with beady-eyed interest.

"I am an inventor and an electrical engineer," I said stiffly.

"I fail to see, then, how he could be 'just like me,'" Dr. Iwamine said to Hiyoko.

"I dunno, because he's kind of weird and intense about science? But he said he wouldn't turn anybirdie into a bio-weapon or put people's heads in jars, so there's that. Anyway, you think you could patch him up?"

"Of course. If you would be so kind as to leave us, Miss Tosaka..."

Hiyoko crossed her arms and shook her head. "Nuh-uh, I'm staying right here."

"Me too," Ryouta chimed in.

"So that you can tenderly-" Hiyoko began, but she was interrupted by a loud crash as a giant mechanical fist smashed through the wall of the infirmary.

"It's the mecha from before!" Ryouta said. "It's back!"

Indeed it was, and past its bulk I could just make out the forms of four others much like it, although slightly smaller.

The tinted glass shielding the driver of the contraption from view suddenly cleared, and I beheld the terribly familiar form of my enemy.

"Edison!" I cried.

"Tesla, my old friend," he said, with a terrible grin. "How lovely to see you again—albeit briefly. For soon I will destroy you, and direct current will reign supreme forevermore!"

"Never! Even if I should perish, the superiority of alternating current will ensure that it lives on!"

I felt a tug at my sleeve and turned to see Hiyoko, looking rather irritated.

"You know, this guy just punched a big hole in the wall of the building," she said. "Do you really want to hang around and chat with him? Because I think we should get out of here."

"Indeed," Dr. Iwamine said. "I recommend we retreat to the basement for the time being."

We ran down the stairs, not looking back to see the source of the terrible racket behind us, and soon reached what appeared to be a disused laboratory. Once the door was shut behind us, for all the good that was liable to do, we all took a moment to catch our breath.

"Now what?" Ryouta asked.

Hiyoko turned to me. "You're a mad scientist, right? Can you build a death ray or something?"

"I certainly cannot build a death ray," I said. "Rays are inefficient; their power diminishes rapidly with distance. I might, however, be able to build an apparatus which projects microscopic particles-"

"Yeah, okay, but will it stop the giant mecha?"

"I believe so," I said. "I have had no opportunity to test this concept, but my theories should be sound."

I will not detail the construction of the apparatus, since to set the plans on paper would make it possible for them to fall into the hands of my enemies. Suffice to say, despite the shortage of materials on hand and the fact that I was assisted by two high school students and a biologist, I managed to construct a device which I deemed satisfactory, and when it was complete, my companions and I emerged once more into the school courtyard.

There I saw an unfamiliar white quail dressed in an outfit similar to Ryouta's attempting to take on the five mecha singlehandedly as Anghel looked on. Two of the fantails from earlier conferred in low voices while the third ran in circles, cooing insistently.

"Edel Blau! Textoris Melodia Funeris!" Anghel called when he saw us. "I feared Wallenstein had vanquished you! You must hurry—Coore Light Grey cannot hold out alone much longer against the Dark Wizard of Menlo Park!"

"We've got something better than Pretty Coore powers—uh, no offense, Anghel," said Hiyoko. "Anyway, we've got a _death ray_."

"I told you," I said, "it's not a death ray. It's-"

"Something something charged microscopic particles, I know, but you've got to admit that death ray sounds way cooler."

"I suppose you may have something there," I said.

While we had been talking, the fantails had come over to join us.

"Enough of this ridiculous prattle," said one. "He's going to destroy the school if we don't get on with it!

"Cooooo! (And we were supposed to be having pudding for lunch today!)," put in another. "Cooo, coo! (Such a thing cannot be allowed to happen on pudding day!)"

Ryouta turned to Hiyoko. "Why don't you and I go help Mr. Nanaki as Coore Grey and Coore Dark Grey? It'll distract the enemy, and then Mr. Tesla can hit him with the death ray while he's not paying attention."

"Great idea!" said Hiyoko, and the two of them dived into the fray, shouting nonsensical phrases which somehow activated beam weapons hidden in their jewelry. I made a note to investigate this further when I had the time.

With the help of the fantails and Dr. Iwamine, I set up the particle beam apparatus and aimed it at Edison, carefully avoiding Ryouta, Hiyoko, and Mr. Kazuaki.

"And now," I said, "to see if this will work the way I believe it will."

"… You mean you don't know? You haven't tested it or anything?" said the third fantail, the one who hadn't spoken before. "That's not exactly confidence-inspiring."

"It does seem foolish, but I don't suppose a mutt like you has a better plan?" said the first one.

Ignoring their argument, I activated the device. It emitted a particle beam which made near-instantaneous contact with Edison's machine, destroying both legs.

"Lab assistants!" Edison cried. "To me!"

The other four machines drew near to their fallen leader, and began to interlock, creating a single machine similar in form to its constituent parts, but, well, approximately five times the size.

"Oh no, they're forming Voltron!" I heard Hiyoko shout. "Since when were the villains allowed to do that?!"

"All right, what's the plan now?" said the third fantail. "This death ray hits too small of an area to easily take that thing out, and we don't know where its vulnerable spots are. At least, I've never seen any military hardware like it."

An idea occurred to me. "Perhaps if we were to coordinate with the, er, Pretty Coores, so that the particle beam and... whatever their weapons are hit at the same time, we could disable it before it has the opportunity to do much damage."

"But if we shout our plans to them across the courtyard, the enemy will know exactly what we're doing," the third fantail said.

"Coooo! Coo _coo_! (Don't worry, Sakuya! Okosan will tell them!)" said the second fantail, and took off across the courtyard at an incredible speed to inform the four other birds. The fighters pulled back, gathering around Anghel, and a ball of pulsating light began to form around them. Okosan moved a bit away from them and stood with one wing raised, waiting.

With some difficulty, my three remaining assistants and I hoisted the particle apparatus and aimed it at the portion of the giant machine in which Edison still sat. But Edison, no longer distracted by our fellow combatants, seemed to catch sight of me, and the machine began lumbering towards us.

" _Coo!_ _(Now!)"_ shouted Okosan, lowering his wing, and we activated the apparatus once more. At the same time, out of the corner of my eye, I could see a massive ball of rainbow light behaving in ways no light should ever behave as it streaked towards Edison's machine. Within a split second, they had both found their target, and I had little time to cover my eyes or my ears as the machine exploded spectacularly.

As vision and hearing returned to me, I could just barely make out Edison crawling away from the wreckage, faintly calling "You win... this time... Tesla...!"

Okosan, Anghel, and the three "Pretty Coores" dashed across the courtyard to where we stood, all chattering excitedly at once. Hiyoko embraced the most officious of the fantails. Ryouta, meanwhile, approached me, and began to speak—but before I could hear what he had to say, I awoke.

A somewhat anticlimactic ending, I'm afraid, but that's often the way of dreams. Still, I find it somehow difficult to believe that this world, and the colorful characters inhabiting it, could really be the product of my own mind. There are whispered theories, among the most eccentric of scientists, of other worlds, other realities—could it be that in my sleep, I somehow was able to see one? I must investigate this further.

But that can wait. First, I think I will have my breakfast, and go to feed the pigeons.

**Author's Note:**

> It is a demanding task to create a work of finely crafted prose which also tackles the importance of the War of Currents, the contentious relationship between Edison and Tesla, the lasting contribution of Tesla to modern science and technology, and the validity of avianromantic identities and necessity of reclaiming historical figures with such identities and increasing fictional representation, but if I may flatter myself, I really believe I succeeded. Historical accuracy is of course of the utmost importance to me; I considered including footnotes, but I found that this interrupted the flow of my prose and detracted from the reading experience. As such I hope that you will accept instead this selected bibliography.
> 
>  
> 
> Works Consulted
> 
>  Burgan, Michael. _Nikola Tesla: Physicist, Inventor, Electrical Engineer_. Minneapolis: Compass Point, 2009. Print.  
>  Cheney, Margaret. _Tesla: Man Out of Time_. New York: Simon, 2001. Print.  
>  Hughes, Thomas Parke. _Networks of Power: Eletrification in Western Society, 1880–1930_. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1983.  
>       Print.  
> Jonnes, Jill. _Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World_. New York: Random House, 2003.  
>       Print.  
> Tesla, Nikola. _My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla_. Ed. Ben Johnston. Williston: Hart Bros., 1982. Print.


End file.
